McSweeney’s

I’ve been very interested in McSweeney’s lately. (http://www.mcsweeneys.net/) Dave Eggers is the editor of McSweeney’s Quarterly, and his books are now published through McSweeney’s as well. I really want to get a subscription to both of their magazines –  McSweeney’s and the Believer. McSweeney’s has awesome fiction, and was founded on the coolest idea…printing pieces that other magazines rejected. Now it’s much more than that, and a lot of wonderful authors regularly contribute.The Believer is also completely awesome. I love that they will write about any book, it doesn’t have to be just published. I get tired of only being able to read about the very latest books in all the other book or entertainment magazines. There are way to many under appreciated books from the past that deserve to be talked about as well. I like hearing about new books too, but I like the combination.

McSweeney’s also has a really cool book subscription program – for $100 you will be sent the next 10 books they publish. This is a huge savings, and totally fun. It wouldn’t work for any huge publisher, too much stuff I wouldn’t ever want. But McSweeney’s publishes a very certain type of book, and so far I’ve loved every book of theirs I’ve read. My favorite humor books, the HOW series by Dr. Haggis-on-Whey (Animals of the Ocean; Giraffes, Giraffes!; and Your Disgusting Head).

Currently, I’m reading two books that McSweeney’s published, What is the What by Dave Eggers and The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby.

What is the What is incredible. Dave Eggers is so original and talented. McSweeney’s discribes the book book much better than I can, so here’s the link.

The Polysyllabic Spree is fantastic. All I really have to do is quote the blurb on the front for you to see why: “A hilarious and true account of one man’s struggle with the monthly tide of the books he’s bought and the books he’s been meaning to read.” Was this written just for me? Or, as Nick Hornby himself says in the book – “In other words, it wasn’t just up my street; it was actually knocking on my front door and peering through the letterbox to see if I was in.”